For information and photos contact:
Jenny Chang, Jenny@pkpr.com
Jason Gordon, jason@pkpr.com
PKPR, 212.627.8098
Download photos: http://imgur.com/a/1TfBM
What: Canstruction® 20th Annual NYC Competition
Where: Brookfield Place World Financial Center Complex (220 Vesey Street)
Presenters: Arts Brookfield; Canstruction® New York, Inc.; Society for Design Administration New York Chapter.
When: February 1-11, 2013
Hours: 10am-6pm daily except February 11, 10am-5pm
Web: https://www.worldfinancialcenter.com/CANSTRUCTION
Cost: FREE – Suggested donation: At least one can of food per person.
POSTPONED BY SANDY, CANSTRUCTION RETURNS
TO LOWER MANHATTAN’S BROOKFIELD PLACE WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER
WITH GRAVITY-DEFYING SCULPTURE EXHIBIT & FOOD DRIVE
25 of New York City’s top architecture, engineering, and design firms
join forces to help feed hungry New Yorkers
New York, NY (January 2, 2012) – Demonstrating New York City’s resilience and generosity, the annual Canstruction® competition, postponed by Superstorm Sandy in early November, has been rescheduled for February 1st through 11th at Lower Manhattan’s Brookfield Place World Financial Center.
Originally slated to open two days after Sandy hit New York City, the 20th anniversary of Canstruction® was delayed due to lack of power and transportation in Lower Manhattan. Determined to help hungry New Yorkers, especially those still impacted by Sandy, 25 architecture, engineering, and design firms re-enlisted in the competition where they will transform more than 100,000 unopened cans of food into larger-than-life pop art masterpieces.
“Everyone involved felt strongly that Canstruction is needed now more than ever,” said Debra Simon, Vice President of Arts Brookfield, Brookfield Office Properties. “We are looking forward to bringing a much-needed splash of color and magic to Lower Manhattan, while giving people an important opportunity to help hungry New Yorkers, especially those still recovering from the storm.”
The 24 firms have spent months planning their entries and are allowed only one adrenaline-filled night (January 31st) to meticulously stack and color-coordinate their cans into ingenious feats of engineering. The massive structures will then be on view to the public until they are dismantled and donated to City Harvest to help feed hungry New Yorkers and people still recovering from Sandy.
Last year's highlights ranged from a replica of Alexander McQueen’s Lady Gaga Shoes made from 3,600 cans to a Converse sneaker that weighed more than a ton.
”Canstruction® has proven so wildly successful because it resonates so deeply,” said Amy Nanni, CDFA, Co-Chair of Canstruction® New York and National Vice President of the Society for Design Administration. “It reminds us that something as prosaic as a can of tuna, soup or beans can be transformed into a dazzling work of art, but it also reminds us of what a difference a simple can of food can make to a person in need. Best of all, the food collected from the structures along with the donations from the public has made a real impact, providing millions of meals for hungry New Yorkers over the past twenty years.”
“City Harvest is proud to share its thirtieth year with Canstruction’s® twentieth, as we continue working together to stock the shelves of New York City soup kitchens and food pantries,” said Jilly Stephens, Executive Director of City Harvest. “For two decades, Canstruction® has played an important role in helping our neighbors in need and the impact is more powerful than ever as we respond to the sustained high demand for food in our city.”
While admission is free, visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to contribute by bringing high-quality non-perishable foods, such as tuna, beans, and canned vegetables, which they can drop off at designated spots throughout Brookfield Place World Financial Center. The donated cans will be donated along with the cans used in the competition to City Harvest. Now serving New York City for 30 years, City Harvest is a food rescue organization that will distribute the food collected from Canstruction® to New Yorkers in need. Last year, 73,970 pounds of food were collected, translating into nearly 74,000 meals for the city's hungry.
New York is one of more than 100 cities around the world taking part in the international competition, which has donated more than 17.5 million pounds of food to local hunger programs since its founding in 1992.
The sculptures will be judged by a panel of experts that include Carla Hall, Alchemy, Chef/Co-Host The Chew; John DeSilvia, Host of DIY Network’s Rescue my Renovation, and Frances Halsband, FAIA Founding Partner Kliment Halsband Architects.
Canstruction® is presented by Arts Brookfield, Canstruction® New York, Inc., and the New York Chapter of the Society for Design Administration
Participating Teams
American Express
Arup
CetraRuddy
CH2M HILL Yolles
DeSimone Consulting Engineers
Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Ferguson & Shamamian Architects
GACE Consulting Engineers
Gilsanz Murray Steficek
Gruzen Samton IBI Group
HLW International, LLP
HOK
Leslie E. Robertson Associates
MTA New York City Transit
National Reprographics Inc.
Parsons Brinckerhoff
RAND Engineering & Architecture, P.C.
Robert Silman Associates
Severud Associates
Skidmore Owings and Merrill
STUDIOS architecture
Ted Moudis Associates
Weidlinger Associates
WJE Engineers & Architects
WSP Flack+ Kurtz / Gensler
About Arts Brookfield
Since 1988 more than 3.5 million people have enjoyed over 2,500 cultural events at Brookfield Place World Financial Center presented by Arts Brookfield, one of the largest free, year-round, privately funded performing and visual arts programs on the east coast.
As an initiative of Brookfield Office Properties, the owner, developer and manager of premier office properties in the United States, Canada and Australia, Arts Brookfield animates public spaces in major cities across North America including New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Denver and Toronto. Brookfield’s portfolio is comprised of interests in 110 properties totaling 78 million square feet in the downtown cores of New York, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Denver, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, making it the global leader in the ownership and management of office assets.
About Canstruction®
Conceived by the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction® is a trademarked design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America and countries around the world including Australia. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these design professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely out of canned foods. It takes 8-12 weeks of design time and thousands of cans of food to create a structure that is actually built in a single night. The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held. The public is invited to donate canned food at the time of the exhibition. At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures and collected from the viewing public is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, and day care centers.
About City Harvest
Now serving New York City for 30 years, City Harvest (www.CityHarvest.org) is the world's first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city’s hungry men, women, and children. This year, City Harvest will collect more than 42 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. This food is then delivered free of charge to some 600 community food programs throughout New York City by a fleet of trucks and bikes. City Harvest helps feed the more than one million New Yorkers that face hunger each year.
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